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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 487 records · Page 27

Use of Solar and Wind as a Physical Hedge against Price Variability within a Generation Portfolio

This study provides a framework to explore the potential use and incremental value of small- to large-scale penetration of solar and wind technologies as a physical hedge against the risk and uncertainty of electricity cost on multi-year to multi-decade timescales. Earlier studies characterizing the impacts of adding renewable energy (RE) to portfolios of electricity generators often used a levelized cost of energy or simplified net cash flow approach. In this study, we expand on previous work by demonstrating the use of an 8760 hourly production cost model (PLEXOS) to analyze the incremental impact of solar and wind penetration under a wide range of penetration scenarios for a region in the Western U.S. We do not attempt to 'optimize' the portfolio in any of these cases. Rather we consider different RE penetration scenarios, that might for example result from the implementation of a Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) to explore the dynamics, risk mitigation characteristics and incremental value that RE might add to the system. We also compare the use of RE to alternative mechanisms, such as the use of financial or physical supply contracts to mitigate risk and uncertainty, including consideration of their effectiveness and availability over a variety of timeframes.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Hualapai Wind Project Feasibility Report

The Hualapai Department of Planning and Economic Development, with funding assistance from the U.S. Department of Energy, Tribal Energy Program, with the aid of six consultants has completed the four key prerequisites as follows: 1. Identify the site area for development and its suitability for construction. 2. Determine the wind resource potential for the identified site area. 3. Determine the electrical transmission and interconnection feasibility to get the electrical power produced to the marketplace. 4. Complete an initial permitting and environmental assessment to determine the feasibility for getting the project permitted. Those studies indicated a suitable wind resource and favorable conditions for permitting and construction. The permitting and environmental study did not reveal any fatal flaws. A review of the best power sale opportunities indicate southern California has the highest potential for obtaining a PPA that may make the project viable. Based on these results, the recommendation is for the Hualapai Tribal Nation to move forward with attracting a qualified wind developer to work with the Tribe to move the project into the second phase - determining the reality factors for developing a wind project. a qualified developer will bid to a utility or negotiate a PPA to make the project viable for financing.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

Postirradiation Capabilities at the Idaho National Laboratory

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Nuclear Energy (NE) oversees the research, development, and demonstration activities that ensure nuclear energy remains a viable energy option for the United States. Fuel and material development through fabrication, irradiation, and characterization play a significant role in accomplishing the research needed to support nuclear energy. All fuel and material development requires the understanding of irradiation effects on the fuel performance and relies on irradiation experiments ranging from tests aimed at targeted scientific questions to integral effects under representative and prototypic conditions. The DOE recently emphasized a solution-driven, goal-oriented, science-based approach to nuclear energy development. Nuclear power systems and materials were initially developed during the latter half of the 20 th century and greatly facilitated by the United States’ ability and willingness to conduct large-scale experiments. Fifty-two research and test reactors with associated facilities for performing fabrication and pre and post irradiation examinations were constructed at what is now Idaho National Laboratory (INL), another 14 at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), and a few more at other national laboratory sites. Building on the scientific advances of the last several decades, our understanding of fundamental nuclear science, improvements in computational platforms, and other tools now enable technological advancements with less reliance on large-scale experimentation.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Application of Subspace Detectors to 2012 Sumatera Earthquake Sequence

In this report the aftershock sequence of the 2012 Sumatra earthquake is used to study the performance of subspace detectors (Harris, 2006) to detect and classify the events. The ground truth used for this study is 1222 aftershock solutions from the LLNL database drawn mostly from the Reviewed Event Bulletin (REB). Subspace detectors are built using several spawning strategies with waveforms recorded by the Makanchi Array (MKAR). Because we desire the subspace detectors to have a very low false alarm rate, the subspace templates are required to be about 50 seconds long (most of the P-bundle). For the same reason, the power detections used to create the subspace templates are restricted to have high SNR. Because of these restrictions, none of the subspace detectors are able to reproduce the entire ground truth catalog. They do have a very low false alarm rate, however, and so can reliably be used as single-array detection classifiers. Because of their reliability, in a suitably designed system, these detectors could be used to segregate detections from regions of high seismicity such as aftershock sequences, and allow processing of those detections in isolation from routine seismicity. It may also be possible to use these detectors to process groups of detections simultaneously. This leads to the concept of “analyst workload reduction factor”; a measure of the reduction in effort achieved by processing N detections in M groups instead of individually. If M is much smaller than N, a significant reduction factor is achieved.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

Biological and Environmental Research, Climate and Environmental Sciences Division: U.S./European Workshop on Climate Change Challenges and Observations

The workshop aimed to identify outstanding climate change science questions and the observational strategies for addressing them. The scientific focus was clouds, aerosols, and precipitation, and the required ground- and aerial-based observations. The workshop findings will be useful input for setting priorities within the Department of Energy (DOE) and the participating European centers. This joint workshop was envisioned as the first step in enhancing the collaboration among these climate research activities needed to better serve the science community.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Smart Grid Interoperability Maturity Model Beta Version

The GridWise Architecture Council was formed by the U.S. Department of Energy to promote and enable interoperability among the many entities that interact with the electric power system. This balanced team of industry representatives proposes principles for the development of interoperability concepts and standards. The Council provides industry guidance and tools that make it an available resource for smart grid implementations. In the spirit of advancing interoperability of an ecosystem of smart grid devices and systems, this document presents a model for evaluating the maturity of the artifacts and processes that specify the agreement of parties to collaborate across an information exchange interface. You are expected to have a solid understanding of large, complex system integration concepts and experience in dealing with software component interoperation. Those without this technical background should read the Executive Summary for a description of the purpose and contents of the document. Other documents, such as checklists, guides, and whitepapers, exist for targeted purposes and audiences. Please see the www.gridwiseac.org website for more products of the Council that may be of interest to you.

Beta Version↗

Clean Energy Program_SLC-SELF (Final Technical Report)

This is the Final Technical Report for DOE's Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant, Award No. DE-EE0003813, submitted by St. Lucie County, FL (prime recipient) and the Solar and Energy Loan Fund (SELF), the program's third-party administrator. SELF is a 501(c)(3) and a certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI). SELF is a community-based lending organization that operates the Clean Energy Loan Program, which focuses on improving the overall quality of life of underserved populations in Florida with an emphasis on home energy improvements and cost-effective renewable energy alternatives.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

EVMS Self-Surveillance of Remote Handled Low Level Waste (RHLLW) Project

DOE G 413.3-10A, Section 3.a states: “The Contractor has primary responsibility for implementing and maintaining a surveillance program to ensure continued compliance of the system with ANSI/EIA-748B. DOE O 413.3B requires the FPD to ensure the contractor conducts a Self-Surveillance annually. This annual Self-Surveillance,…should cover all 32 guidelines of the ANSI/EIA748B. Documentation of the Self-Surveillance is sent to the CO and the PMSO (copy to OECM) confirming the continued compliance of their EVMS ANSI/EIA748B...” This review, and the associated report, is deemed to satisfy this requirement.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

National Computational Infrastructure for Lattice Gauge Theory: SciDAC-2 Closeout Report

Under its SciDAC-1 and SciDAC-2 grants, the USQCD Collaboration developed software and algorithmic infrastructure for the numerical study of lattice gauge theories. This work was carried out jointly by high energy and nuclear physicists within USQCD, in collaboration with applied mathematicians and computer scientists. The software and its documentation is publicly available at the USQCD software web site http://www.usqcd.org/usqcd-software. The code has been widely adopted within the United States, and is used extensively abroad. It has been instrumental in our effective use of leadership class computers, and of the dedicated computers funded for USQCD through the LQCD Computing Project. The committees which review our hardware program on a yearly basis have consistently emphasized the importance of the work done under our SciDAC grants, and the need for their continuation.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Advanced fuels campaign 2013 accomplishments

The mission of the Advanced Fuels Campaign (AFC) is to perform Research, Development, and Demonstration (RD&D) activities for advanced fuel forms (including cladding) to enhance the performance and safety of the nation’s current and future reactors; enhance proliferation resistance of nuclear fuel; effectively utilize nuclear energy resources; and address the longer-term waste management challenges. This includes development of a state-of-the art Research and Development (R&D) infrastructure to support the use of “goal-oriented science-based approach.” In support of the Fuel Cycle Research and Development (FCRD) program, AFC is responsible for developing advanced fuels technologies to support the various fuel cycle options defined in the Department of Energy (DOE) Nuclear Energy Research and Development Roadmap, Report to Congress, April 2010. Accomplishments made during fiscal year (FY) 2013 are highlighted in this report, which focuses on completed work and results. The process details leading up to the results are not included; however, the technical contact is provided for each section.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

SciDAC-3: Searching for Physics Beyond the Standard Model, University of Arizona component, Year 2 progress report

The Arizona component of the SciDAC-3 Lattice Gauge Theory program consisted of partial support for a postdoctoral position. In the original budget this covered three fourths of a postdoc, but the University of Arizona changed its ERE rate for postdoctoral positions from 4.3% to 21%, so the support level was closer to two-thirds of a postdoc. The grant covered the work of postdoc Thomas Primer. Dr. Primer's first task was an urgent one, although it was not forseen in our proposed work. It turned out that on the large lattices used in some of our current computations the gauge fixing code was not working as expected, and this revealed itself in inconsistent results in the correlators needed to compute the semileptonic form factors for K and D decays. Dr. Primer participated in the effort to understand this problem and to modify our codes to deal with the large lattices we are now generating (as large as 144 3 x 288). Corrected code was incorporated in our standard codes, and workarounds that allow us to use the correlators already computed with the unexpected gauge fixing were been implemented.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Exploring the Potential Business Case for Synergies Between Natural Gas and Renewable Energy

Natural gas and renewable energy each contribute to economic growth, energy independence, and carbon mitigation, sometimes independently and sometimes collectively. Often, natural gas and renewables are considered competitors in markets, such as those for bulk electricity. This paper attempts to address the question, 'Given near- and long-term needs for abundant, cleaner energy sources and decarbonization, how can more compelling business models be created so that these two domestic forms of energy work in greater concert?' This paper explores revenue opportunities that emerge from systems-level perspectives in 'bulk energy' (large-scale electricity and natural gas production, transmission, and trade) and four 'distribution edge' subsectors: industrial, residential, commercial, and transportation end uses.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

Flexibility in 21st Century Power Systems

Flexibility of operation—the ability of a power system to respond to change in demand and supply—is a characteristic of all power systems. Flexibility is especially prized in twenty-first century power systems, with higher levels of grid-connected variable renewable energy (primarily, wind and solar). This paper summarizes the analytic frameworks that have emerged to measure this characteristic and distills key principles of flexibility for policy makers.

21CPP↗

National Computational Infrastructure for Lattice Gauge Theory SciDAC-2 Closeout Report Indiana University Component

This is the closeout report for the Indiana University portion of the National Computational Infrastructure for Lattice Gauge Theory project supported by the United States Department of Energy under the SciDAC program. It includes information about activities at Indian University, the University of Arizona, and the University of Utah, as those three universities coordinated their activities.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Structural Health Monitoring for Impact Damage in Composite Structures.

Composite structures are increasing in prevalence throughout the aerospace, wind, defense, and transportation industries, but the many advantages of these materials come with unique challenges, particularly in inspecting and repairing these structures. Because composites of- ten undergo sub-surface damage mechanisms which compromise the structure without a clear visual indication, inspection of these components is critical to safely deploying composite re- placements to traditionally metallic structures. Impact damage to composites presents one of the most signi fi cant challenges because the area which is vulnerable to impact damage is generally large and sometimes very dif fi cult to access. This work seeks to further evolve iden- ti fi cation technology by developing a system which can detect the impact load location and magnitude in real time, while giving an assessment of the con fi dence in that estimate. Fur- thermore, we identify ways by which impact damage could be more effectively identi fi ed by leveraging impact load identi fi cation information to better characterize damage. The impact load identi fi cation algorithm was applied to a commercial scale wind turbine blade, and results show the capability to detect impact magnitude and location using a single accelerometer, re- gardless of sensor location. A technique for better evaluating the uncertainty of the impact estimates was developed by quantifying how well the impact force estimate meets the assump- tions underlying the force estimation technique. This uncertainty quanti fi cation technique was found to reduce the 95% con fi dence interval by more than a factor of two for impact force estimates showing the least uncertainty, and widening the 95% con fi dence interval by a fac- tor of two for the most uncertain force estimates, avoiding the possibility of understating the uncertainty associated with these estimates. Linear vibration based damage detection tech- niques were investigated in the context of structural stiffness reductions and impact damage. A method by which the sensitivity to damage could be increased for simple structures was presented, and the challenges of applying that technique to a more complex structure were identi fi ed. The structural dynamic changes in a weak adhesive bond were investigated, and the results showed promise for identifying weak bonds that show little or no static reduction in stiffness. To address these challenges in identifying highly localized impact damage, the possi- bility of detecting damage through nonlinear dynamic characteristics was also identi fi ed, with a proposed technique which would leverage impact location estimates to enable the detection of impact damage. This nonlinear damage identi fi cation concept was evaluated on a composite panel with a substructure disbond, and the results showed that the nonlinear dynamics at the damage site could be observed without a baseline healthy reference. By further developing impact load identi fi cation technology and combining load and damage estimation techniques into an integrated solution, the challenges associated with impact detection in composite struc- tures can be effectively solved, thereby reducing costs, improving safety, and enhancing the operational readiness and availability of high value assets.

Roach, Dennis P.↗

Scientific and Technical Information (STI) for Financial Assistance and Non-M&O/M&I

BSST (hereafter referred to as Amerigon) began work in November 2004 under a cost share contract [1] awarded by the U.S. Department of Energy Freedom Car Office to develop a high efficiency Thermoelectric Waste Energy Recovery System for passenger vehicle applications. The system increases fuel economy by partially replacing the electric power produced by the alternator with electric power produced by conversion of exhaust gas in a Thermoelectric Generator (TEG). Amerigon’s team members included the BMW Group and Ford Motor Company, with both OEMs demonstrating the TEG system in their vehicles in the final program phase. Significant progress was made in modeling, building and testing the TEG system from the lowest subassembly levels through an entire vehicle system. By the program’s conclusion, the team had successfully overcome the challenges of integrating TE materials into an exhaust system component and evaluated the system behavior in bench and over the road testing for over six months.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗